CHAPTER II. LITERATURE REVIEW
A. Vocabulary Knowledge
8. Vocabulary Assessment
This section briefly outlines some commonly used vocabulary formats in vocabulary assessment. To make the discussion clearer, Harmer‘s opinion is added. In his book, Harmer (2001, p. 16) says that there are some aspects that have to be discussed in vocabulary, namely word meaning which comprises synonym, antonym, connotation, and denotation, extending word use such as idioms, word combination or collocation, and the grammar of words such as noun, verb, adjective, and adverb.
1. Meaning
The meaning can be classified according to the form that they attach to. It can be classified into three forms. There are lexical meaning, morphological meaning, and syntactic meaning. Lexical meaning can be defined as the meaning that attaches to words as word. For example, the meaning of ‗a building for human habitation‘ that encloses to
‗house‘ is lexical meaning. Morphological meaning is the meaning that encloses to morpheme. Morpheme is the smallest unit that has information about meaning or function.
And the meaning that enclose to the word arrangement in a sentence is the syntactic meaning. For example, question encloses to the word arrangement in the sentence ―is he a student?”.
A word meaning can also be called as its relationship to other words. One should also know the denotation and connotation of a word so as knowing the negative or positive meanings that occur in the word.
a. Synonym
Synonymy faces sameness of meaning, more than one word having the same meaning, alternatively the same meaning being expressed by more than one word. In other words, synonym can be defined as words whose denotation is the same but has different connotation.
b. Antonym
Antonym is the contrast or opposite of meaning. Antonym faces oppositeness of meaning. Antonyms are not difference for formality or dialect or technicality. Antonyms come within the same style, dialect, or register.
c. Denotation
Tarigan (2008, p. 58) says that denotation is conceptual meaning and dictionary meaning. Keraf (2001, p. 28) states that denotative meaning is also called as some terms such as den notational meaning, cognitive meaning, conceptual meaning, ideational meaning, referential meaning, or proportional meaning.
This is known as dennotational, referential, conceptual, or ideational because the meaning refers to a certain referent, concept, or idea from reference. Keraf (2001, p. 28), explains that denotative meaning is also called cognitive meaning because the meaning concerns with consciousness or knowledge.
d. Connotation
Connotation is more complicated than denotation. Tarigan (2008, p. 60) states that connotation is feeling and emotion that occurs within a word. Thus, it can be concluded that connotation is denotative meaning which is stretched. In other words, connotation is defined as the feeling and emotion associated with a meaning.
2. Use
According to Nation (2001, p. 1), he says that there are some ways to draw the attentions to the use of words by quickly showing the grammatical pattern the word fits into (countable or uncountable, transitive or intransitive, etc), giving a few similar collocates, mentioning any restrictions on the use of the word (formal, informal, impolite, only used with children, etc), and giving a well known contrast or a well known word describing the group or lexical set it fits into.
3. Spelling
Spelling is defined as the writing of a word or words with the necessary letters and diacritics present in an accepted standard order and an arrangement of letters that form a word or section of a word; the process of forming words by putting letters together.
According to Ur (2012, p. 60) states that there are some important points that should be considered when teaching vocabulary that is form (pronunciation and spelling). Therefore the learners have to know what a word sound is like (its pronunciation) and what it looks like (its spelling).
4. Pronunciation
According to Hewings (2004, p. 3), he states that pronunciation of a language is the main components of speech which combine together. These components distance from the individual sounds that make up speech, to the way in pitch (the rise and fall of the voice is used to convey meaning). Pronunciation is also connected to phonetic transcription. Since the phonetic transcription indicates speech sound consistently, it can be used as a reliable guide to have a control of the spoken language. Lastly, the main components of pronunciation are sounds, syllables, and words.
a) Sounds
The individual sounds, the vowels and consonants are the building blocks of pronunciation that go together to make words. The consonants like /b/ and /p/ are separate in English because if they are interchanged, they will make new words; for example, in bit and pit. Similarly, the vowels /ı/ (as in it) and /٨/ (as in up) are detached. It has to be rememberred that there is a difference between vowel and consonant letters and vowel and consonant sounds.
b) Syllables
Vowel and consonant sounds merge into syllables. It can be helpful to think of the structure of English syllables like [Consonant (s)] + Vowel + [consonant (s)]. This means that various combinations of vowels and consonants are explained below:
1. Vowel only (e.g., in a)
2. Consonant + vowel (e.g., in me) 3. Vowel + consonant (e.g., in eat)
4. Consonant + vowel + consonant (e.g., in bag) c) Words
A word can be defined either a single syllable (e.g., dog, owl) or a sequence of two or more syllables (e.g., bottle, about [two syllables]; lemonade [three syllables] or electricity [five syllables]). One of these syllables is stressed in relation to other syllables in the word when a word has more than one syllable, while other syllables are mentioned to be unstressed. For example, the first syllable is stressed in ―bottle‖ and the second is unstressed, while the first syllable is unstressed and the second is stressed in ―about‖.
Pronunciation can be explained as the act of uttering with articulation, the act of giving the proper sound and accent, utterance, as, the pronunciation of syllables of words,
distinct or indistinct pronunciation. It is a way in which language can be used. It contains segmental feature, vowel, and the intonation patterns. The listeners should be apply them well and correctly.
To realize that the knowledge of vocabulary is very important, learners have to pay a greater attention to the vocabulary teaching. The teacher must have a good, effective and efficient method in order that the teaching vocabulary is successful. If someone can master vocabulary well, she or he will be able to promote fluency, boost comprehension, improve achievement, and enhance thinking and communication.
Differently by Pearson et al (2007), this section briefly outlines some commonly used vocabulary formats in vocabulary assessment. The list below is approximately a chronological order of how they appeared in the testing of vocabulary. The first four formats listed below were the earliest measures of vocabulary which primarily ask the learners to demonstrate their vocabulary knowledge by labeling, giving definition, and translating. Traditionally, such assessment was carried out verbally via an individual interview.
Besides, practical scoring is needed. There are two test techniques in the list: Yes/No list and Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs). It is a widespread belief that words are the best when presented in context. Such view motivates more contextualized vocabulary assessments such as the cloze-test. Next in the list is, the four skills assessment (writing, speaking, listening, and reading), where vocabulary is sometimes a part of the construct, which makes use ofthe context to demonstrate learners‘ ability in using the words (active vocabulary).
a. Labeling
Labeling is one of the most commonly used test technique in vocabulary assessment, where learners are typically asked to respond by writing down what the word is for a given figure as illustrated below:
Figure 2.1 Labeling Exercise for Assessing Vocabulary
On the Figure 2.1 above, Redman (2003, p. 13) defines that to assess the vocabulary can use labeling the pictures. Alternatively, Hughes (2003) also said that one picture can be used in which the learners are asked to label parts of it. Although it may be comparatively easy to come up with a picture especially with the growing mass of picture content available on the net, it is somehow limited to pictures showing, and thereby testing concrete nouns.
Label these pictures, and then check your answer on the opposite page.
b. Definitions
Learners are asked to write the word that corresponds to the given definition in definitions, as illustrated below:
Figure 2.2 Definitions Exercise in Vocabulary Assessment
Definition sets a wider range of vocabulary to test, unlike the labeling format which is restricted to concrete nouns. However, Hughes (2003) pinpoints that one issue in this kind of test in that not all words can be uniquely defined. Dictionary definitions may provide shortcuts and save our headaches in finding the best, clear-cut, unambiguous definition to address this limitation.
c. Translation
Definition of translation is an attempt to find the equivalent meaning of a text into the second language. We emphasize because the meaning of translation is an object that will be translated from source language text to the target language text. In this case, translator is faced with text as a unit of meaning in the form of a set of words or sentences. The main question in translation is the meaning that always appears in the translation process, not translation as a product of the process. Translating a text from the source text (ST) must consider the nearest natural equivalent meaning. This implies that the meaning of the target text must be equivalent to the meaning of the source. There are many ways in which vocabulary is measured using translation. Learners can choose the correct translation in a multiple choice questions (MCQ), or only asked to provide translation for each word given in the list as follows:
Figure 2.3 Translation Exercise in Vocabulary Assessment
Note the above example may also be reversed, the teacher can ask learners to provide the English words from the L2. One trap in using translation is that one word may consist of more than one meaning, and therefore there may be more than one correct answer which is an issue of reliability. However, the use of context may help overcome this limitation.
This can be done by adding sentences, which is the word to be translated in underlined.
Another issue in translation by Coombe (2011, p. 116) is the assumption that the teacher has the knowledge of the student‘s mother tongue. It may also be noted by Read (2000, p.
113) that the use of translation is somewhat regarded as controversial in the current trend in language education where the use of mother tongue is discouraged. Thus, according to Harmer (2007) learners should instead be given a healthy dose of L2 exposure in the classroom. However, a recent study by Hayati and Mohammadi (2009) shows that translation provides longer memory retention of words than another vocabulary learning technique called ‗task-based‘ approach for learners who are asked to remember the
A____________ is a person who teaches in your class.
______________ is a loud noise that you hear after lighting, in a storm.
______________ is the firstday of the week.
Teacher __________ Taxi driver __________ Student___________
Librarian __________ Actor ____________ Shop keeper __________
President _________ Professor __________
definition, collocation, parts of speech, and other aspects of a word. Their findings imply that translation may still has a place in vocabulary assessment.
d. Matching
Another common vocabulary test is when students are asked to respond by matching one word in one column with another. Items in the left hand column for buildings, and items on the other end are called options. These words can be matched based on related meanings, synonyms, antonyms, or collocations as exemplified in the quote following page:
Figure 2.4 Matching Exercise in Vocabulary Assessment
In conclusion, there are many ways to use it, which can be useful when they do not know the words in question. Therefore we recommend using more matching options.
e. Yes/No List
Format Yes / Not useful when we want to test a large number of samples in a relatively short time. This can be achieved because they know what the word means. For this practical reason, the format yes / no is usually used to measure vocabulary size because a large sample of items is needed in measuring size. The yes or no list exercise is below:
Give a tick (√) if we know the word means!
__ Mayonnaise __ Catastrophe __ Belligerent __ Distinctive
f. Multiple Choice Question
MCQs are among the most common test techniques in vocabulary assessment, especially in formal tests (Combee, 2011, p. 116). MCQs consist of a stem and response options. What students do is find the correct answers in the options. When determining the best option for test design, consider the strength and limitation of using multiple choice questions. The MCQ test is challenging and takes time to make.. Learners will find it easier if they write a few questions each week, perhaps after a lecture when the course material is still fresh in their mind. In vocabulary test, MCQ can be used to demonstrate learners‘ word knowledge of synonyms, antonyms, meanings in context, or a range of English expressions as shown in the excerpt following:
Match the verbs on the left with the nouns on the right.
1. Correct a. places
2. Clean b. a word
3. Borrow c. someone‘s mistakes
4. Swap d. the board
5. Video e. a dictionary
6. Do f. a program
7. Turn up g. an exercise
8. look up h. the tape recorder
Figure 2.5 MCQ Exercise in Vocabulary Assessment
Although MCQs are often criticized for their difficulties in designing good construction, limited number of factors to use, and the existence of guessing elements, MCQs are still one of the most popular vocabulary tests due to the superiority of practicality, flexibility, familiarity and high reliability.
g. Cloze-test
Cloze tests, also known as sentence completion or filling gaps, are not yet another common vocabulary test where students lose words in a text. This is relatively more demanding than the previous test format because students must demonstrate their ability to use words based on the context provided in the text.
Cloze tests come in various forms. This test is a fixed ratio of reading readings. The second form is called a selective or rational test where instead of deleting words in a fixed ratio, the test designer intentionally deletes several words from the reading section.
Another form of cloze test involves the use of multiple choice questions in answering items. So, instead of having students write down the answers, they must choose the correct answer for each word that is deleted. To eliminate the possibility of having more than one correct answer, it is desirable to give the first letter of the word as illustrated in the following quote:
Figure 2.6 Cloze-test Exercise in Vocabulary Assessment Complete the missing words in this email with words from the opposite
page. The first letter of each word is given to help you
Choose the best expression to complex each sentence.
1. …………our discussion, I‘d like to focus on the US context.
A. For the purposes of B. In the sense that
C. From the point of view of
2. I‘m not sure ………… you agree with Qian‘s theory.
A. By means of which B. To what extent C. As regards
In the quote above, the first letter serves as a clue to what the answer is. Another extreme version of this is called the C-test, where the first half of the word is revealed, the first part of the word is revealed. One major advantage of the cloze test is its ease of writing, but Read (2000) doubts the use of the cloze test as the correct vocabulary measure.
Because there are quite a number of aspects in answering cloze test questions, scores may not only reflect student knowledge but can also be seen as overall learning learning skills in language, including reading skills.
h. Embedded Test
As mentioned earlier, vocabulary tests are embedded (reading, listening, writing and speaking). In such an assessment, the assessor assesses the quality of the students' overall vocabulary in the skills provided. In reading, especially the learner is intended to define the context in a reading passage. In listening, vocabulary can be a written component where students' knowledge of word spelling is assessed. Because writing and speaking are both productive skills, vocabulary is somewhat given more weight. IELTS writes and speaks, for example, placing 'logical resources' as one of the four marking schemes. This lexical source refers to the quality of students' vocabulary, both for example the use of words that are appropriate, varied, and natural or incorrect, limited, and stable.
From the explanation above, it can be concluded that in order to assess vocabulary knowledge, the dimensions of how we can expand our ideas about what a vocabulary test is to include a broader range of technical assessment procedures.